AKRON, Ohio — A more than 50-year-long partnership has ended in the city of Akron. American Medical Response, AMR, shut its doors in Akron. Now, the weight of all EMS transportation will fall in the hands of Akron firefighters.
In 2022, out of 25,000 EMS calls where a patient needed to go to the hospital, AMR helped Akron firefighters on more than half, or 13,000 calls.
Akron Fire Chief Joseph Natko says his crews are resilient. To make up for more time spent transporting patients to the hospital, firefighters will be working overtime.
"It's a must that we're going to have to have them do a lot of overtime, but we don't want to overwork them," said Tara Mosley, Akron City Council Ward 5.
AMR wanted $11 million to continue its contract with the city for another 5 years. That's after the city had a "no cost" contract agreement with AMR for its transportation services. The company made its profit through its own medical billing system.
Mosley continued, "We could not produce that kind of funding for them, unfortunately. And it's unfortunate for the 50 employees of AMR that now have to go out there and find jobs."
Natko said he is working to hire 25 more firefighters and is thinking of new ways for his departments to get to every call.
"Let's say all 16 of our ambulances are tied up on runs or at the hospital. What are we going to do? We're going to send a fire engine with basic equipment, and they will stabilize the patient. We'll start stacking calls that are non-acute, so dispatch would pile them up for us until an ambulance breaks free and can get to them," said Natko.
City leaders say residents can help by only calling the fire department for emergencies.
Mosley said, "We do have some pressing issues here in the city that our firefighters are having to deal with. If we could offset that by simply having someone take you to the emergency room or urgent care."
Natko says the city will also add 3 ambulances to meet the demand. One is on the street right now, and two are in the works but won't be ready until 2024.
Right now, the Akron Fire Department has about 150 firefighters who are certified in EMS. The city is looking at economical options to have all firefighters certified.
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